The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
